I survived my first class! It was fun and I love being in the pool but my swim technique is so, so bad. I hope i get better!Can you experienced folks breath on both sides? I find it impossible to breath to the right and had to adjust all the exercises so i could breath on the left.

I couldn't breathe bilaterally very well until I strengthened my shoulders. It's still a chore but I do it because in tri you're swimming in open water and you never know if there's going to be chop that forces you to breathe on your non-preferred side. It also helps even out your stroke, but you can work on that with a snorkel too.

That's great inceptisol! Of course you will get better with practice. I was in the pool today at the same time as swimming lessons (there are 2 lanes open for laps) and watching the kids learn front crawl with a flutter board reminded me of how hard it is when you start. Now when I swim it just seems so natural to coordinate everything - this will happen to you too.

I don't breathe on both sides because I swim for fitness (and fun) and don't see the need. I don't know if that is something you need to worry about when you are learning - I would think that once you are stronger and more comfortable you can learn to add that in. As monkeytoes points out, there are good reasons to be able to breathe either side.

Now I am starting to think I should learn to breathe both sides because I am stronger and faster than I was and I could easily breathe once every three strokes.

That's a great point about open water, monkeytoes!I really love being in the water so I hope i get this swimming thing down. My teacher is super encouraging even though i'm terrible so that's good! I'll have more time to practice after my marathon next weekend.

DrakeRedcrest, did you find us here? I had a question about hair too. I have had very short hair all my adult life and now, the year I get back into swimming regularly after 20 years away, I decided to let it grow. It is now down to my shoulders and it's quite thick. I was wondering if there is anything special I can do to keep it from getting too frizzy and being damaged by the chlorine.

It is about 1/3 - 1/2 grey but I use Lush henna on it at least once a month. Other than shampoo and conditioner I don't put anything on it but on damp days I would like to have more control over it. When I swim I use a lycra swim cap and wash it afterwards.

I think the biggest thing is wet your hair in the shower before putting your cap on. Your hair is like a sponge; if you get it saturated with non-chlorinated water it can't absorb as much chlorinated water. And yeah, wash it afterwards. I've heard that if you can't wash it right away, rinsing in club soda is supposed to be good for rinsing out the chlorine. I don't think anything is foolproof though. If you spend enough time in the pool your hair is going to pay for it.

I always wet my hair (my whole body) before swimming. I don't think I would get it in the swim cap if I didn't :-). That's a good point about it absorbing the clean water instead of the chlorinated stuff.

I read here about using coconut oil on hair for extra moisturizing and I tried it once - it felt really nice and made me hair smooth for a while anyway. I think I might try that regularly between henna sessions. The henna probably helps too as it coats the hair so well. I might want to be more conscientious about doing the henna every 2-3 weeks at least.

So I've got a couple questions for you swimming folks. I haven't swam seriously since I was a kid, just playing around in the ocean and lakes. I've got a slow but consistent breaststroke but I went to a Master Stroke class tonight for help with my freestyle and had basically an hour-long low-grade panic attack because I can't figure out the breathing and so felt like I was half-drowning the whole time. The instructor said it looked okay from the outside, so I think it's more about my body going into "holy shiitake I'm drowning!" mode rather than me flailing about or whatever. Ideas I have: get one of those nose clips so I only have to concentrate on breathing in not on not getting water in my nose; goggles (I know!) so I can see clearly what's going on and it feels less chaotic. Practice. Other ideas? I have never had fear in the water, but it feels so profoundly unnatural to breathe under/just above water and then once I start breathing hard from exertion that's when I go into complete panic mode.

_________________"I'd rather have dried catshit! I'd rather have astroturf! I'd rather have an igloo!"~Isa

"But really, anyone willing to dangle their baby in front of a crocodile is A-OK in my book."~SSD

Oh yeah, definitely goggles! I can't imagine trying to swim without them. And practice. I've never used a nose clip but I breathe in through my mouth and slowly expel air between breaths through my nose and mouth... That's how I avoid getting water up my nose, but it just seems natural to me so it's not like I'm concentrating on it. If you feel like you are, definitely try the nose clip and just exhale underwater through your mouth. I don't know that there's much else you can do besides keep at it until everything comes together for you to not trigger that panic feeling.

Maybe, if it's possible, swim some laps the short way across the pool so you're getting a little more rest and not needing to breathe as hard from exertion? That might help until your breathing pattern falls into place.

I agree, practise will help a lot. I wonder if you are trying to go too fast. Even if physically you are capable of swimming at a certain pace you may need to slow yourself down a good deal just to get the rhythm of the breathing to feel right. You are probably focussing on your arms and legs at the same time so it may just be too much at once.

I'm going swimming with a friend on Saturday for the first time in more than a year and a half. I'm so excited. I love swimming. I'm way out of shape, but it should be good. I like that floaty feeling you get when you get out of the pool where your muscles are all noodley.

Starting swimming stroke improvement classes this Thursday. I used to be a regular swimmer (I swam three days a week on my lunch at work for years--but this was years ago--like almost twenty. I'd swim around 50-60 lengths of a ~25 m pool) but I've never taken lessons in my life. My sister taught me how to swim in the neighborhood pool when I was a kid and she's only three years older than me. I don't know how to dive at all. Despite not being a diver, I've always been considered a strong swimmer in the water. It will be interesting to have some professional input on the strokes I just went with all my life. They could be all wrong!

Yay sv! I also took about twenty years off from regular swimming (while my kids were growing up) and just went back to it a year and a half ago. I think that even if you have good swimming form a stroke improvement class can help. I watched a bunch of videos on stroke improvement but would still like some input - the classes are in the evening though and I can't make it.

My pool was on fire this morning! Not the pool exactly but the men's sauna. I was up at 5:30 a.m. having my coffee before heading out to swim and luckily turned on the radio before I left. I went anyway and there were a lot of firetrucks. Not too much damage and I think the pool and most of the facility (sportsplex) is open again.

You know, even if you grew up a swimmer they're refining and making changes to optimal swim strokes all the time anyways! I was a competitive swimmer my whole life up through college, and now six years after graduating a lot of what I was taught is no longer dominant. I'm hoping to join a master's team after baby #2 is born and I'm sure I'll be in the same boat!

Pool is open today, smells like campfire (it was the cedar-lined sauna that burned). Members change rooms were closed though so had to use open ones and the (teens) swim team was in at the same time - much louder than the members lockers! They had such life, though - especially for kids who get up at 5 in the morning.

Mandycoot, I have thought of joining the masters swim team but I don't have time now. I think that may be something to plan for my 50s! I love learning new things and I think if I wanted to I could be pretty fast for an old fish. I didn't get to be on the swim team in my youth because we didn't get a pool in my town until I was about 15 and I had to learn to swim properly first, and my parents were sick, so it was too late. I did teach swimming and lifeguard, though, and spent many hours a week happily swimming lengths like I do now.

I loved my swimming lessons, but it was a bit too much talk and not enough swim. But that was just the first class where the instructor was laying foundations so hopefully things will get more active in subsequent classes. I need to try and get to a pool one more time a week (beyond the classes) to practice my strokes. We're gonna do front crawl, back, breast, flip turns and maybe, he said, butterfly. We'll learn the dolphin kick anyway, he said. I have a 25 m pool that's a 20 minute bus ride away. I gots to try and get out there today or tomorrow before round 2 of my stroke improvement class Thursday to practice.

The swimming lessons are awesome. I bought a new bathing suit this weekend so I have an extra practice suit and don't have to keep wearing the same one to class. Already my front crawl is more efficient than it was when I started although I feel like I'm swimming with less power and a more calmly old ladyish stroke. But I'm moving through the water in a more streamlined and efficient way. Kinda can't wait to pick up my speed and get splashy again but he's encouraging us to go slow for now to get the right stroke form down.

I started my weekly lessons again too and am slowly coming along. When I started i also had to do exercises that made me slow way down so I could focus on my form. It took me a long time but I think I'm finally getting it. Now when the lanes get crowded I'm the one that gets bumped to a faster lane! And at the open swim time on saturday the coach let me and my husband just do our own thing without feeling like he needed to watch/coach us! I'm loving swimming.

Swimming lessons tonight! I love it. I feel free in the pool, always have. I don't believe in reincarnation but if I did, I'd swear I was a dolphin or water creature in another love. I feel at home in the water.

Tonight, we'll be working more on our backstroke (I always windmilled my arms backwards doing that stroke, but now we're working on the 'S-pull' which is supposed to be the proper arm form for crawl and backstroke). Getting the S-pull down is my biggest challenge so far and the form involved with that. And resisting the urge to break free of the slowness he's encouraging to perfect our form and splash around wildly like I want to, LAWLZ.

Swimming lessons tonight! I love it. I feel free in the pool, always have. I don't believe in reincarnation but if I did, I'd swear I was a dolphin or water creature in another love. I feel at home in the water.

Tonight, we'll be working more on our backstroke (I always windmilled my arms backwards doing that stroke, but now we're working on the 'S-pull' which is supposed to be the proper arm form for crawl and backstroke). Getting the S-pull down is my biggest challenge so far and the form involved with that. And resisting the urge to break free of the slowness he's encouraging to perfect our form and splash around wildly like I want to, LAWLZ.

I feel the same way about the water! I always do a couple of cooling off paddling laps after my swim and then I don't want to get out.

I am glad you are loving your lessons. Since I started swimming again last year so many people have told me they would like to swim but aren't very good, or my runnner friends would like to branch into triathlons. Take lessons! Especially for aging folks like me, some swimming is very good.

Something I find weird at the pool are those folks who don't like to share a lane. Now I get it, having your own lane is the best, but from 5:30 to 8 a.m. our pool is full and you have to share. They are either cranky, swim in the middle even when forced to share, or get out when someone else gets in. Phooey to them, most swimmers are great.

Swimming lessons tonight! I love it. I feel free in the pool, always have. I don't believe in reincarnation but if I did, I'd swear I was a dolphin or water creature in another love. I feel at home in the water.

Tonight, we'll be working more on our backstroke (I always windmilled my arms backwards doing that stroke, but now we're working on the 'S-pull' which is supposed to be the proper arm form for crawl and backstroke). Getting the S-pull down is my biggest challenge so far and the form involved with that. And resisting the urge to break free of the slowness he's encouraging to perfect our form and splash around wildly like I want to, LAWLZ.

I feel the same way about the water! I always do a couple of cooling off paddling laps after my swim and then I don't want to get out.

I am glad you are loving your lessons. Since I started swimming again last year so many people have told me they would like to swim but aren't very good, or my runnner friends would like to branch into triathlons. Take lessons! Especially for aging folks like me, some swimming is very good.

Me too. Our lessons take place in a 50 m pool so it's nice and big. Anyway, we tend to wrap up in the shallow end or the middle of the pool and everyone in the class but me heads for the nearest ladder in the shallow end to climb out and I always swim to the farthest ladder in the deep end before getting out of the pool, because I love being in the water and I want to SPRINT. I love moving fast in the water.

More drills last night. I do well with most things water related but last night we started or frog leg drills for breast stroke and doing them on our backs to start with flutterboards held over our chests and I was spazzing out. I can do the leg motions fine on my stomach, you know, how the breast stroke will ultimately be, but practicing on my back I was floundering in the middle of the pool and hardly moving. I had to laugh.

I have a lot of fun in the classes and it's great exercise and everyone's really nice. Loving it! More breast stroke drills next week, more front crawl. We did a lot of work on back crawl last night and I feel good about mine. Still need to work with the arm motions some though. I'll try and get some practice in this week before next class. Yay, swimming!